The South Bayview Bulldog

It’s hard to keep your feet on the ground when it comes to laying blame for unemployed autoworkers. Unifor is out with a commercial asking Canadians to boycott GM cars built in Mexico. Fine, but do they ever recall that there have never been any Unifor grunts employed by VW, Audi, Mercedes or BMW?  That’s because none of these firms has ever built so much as a bumper in Canada. Ford has. So has Chrylser. The big Japanese car makers are all here. Even GM continues to make cars here. You choose who’s to blame because Canada doesn’t have enough auto jobs.

You can take these prices as moveable but Friday morning they were what was being paid at stations in Midtown and nearby. The gasoline oversupply has brought the average price of a litre of regular under a dollar for the first time in a while. Keeping it mind that it costs money to drive to a distant station, we note that the Shell station at O’Connor Dr. and Coxwell Ave. was quite competitive this morning and not too far away. Once there were at least seven gas stations on Bayview Ave. between Eglinton and Moore.

Ladies Night Out at Leaside Pub Thursday

Women from Leaside and elsewhere filled the Leaside Pub on Laird Drive Thursday night to celebrate the first annual Leaside Ladies Night Out. Silent and live auctions, music, food and world-class socializing rocked the old tavern. The evening was sold out. It will raise funds for the initiative, Sew for Success. This endeavor will support women in the Thorncliffe neighbourhood to set up their own home-based sewing/tailoring businesses. It will be a three-pronged approach to provide education on how to run a business, sponsor women to develop better sewing skills and provide supplies needed to run their businesses independently. The organizers also hope to encourage a liaison between Leaside and Thorncliffe women in order to ensure their success. It will be a few days before proceeds from the auctions are known, but Andy Elder’s dinner for eight had a winning bid of $1200.

Chris Antaras at Detroit Eatery/supplied

Boarded up Thursday/Bulldog

Chris and Dad Alex/supplied

Friends want to donate/Toronto Star Twitter

Fan tweeted photo of he and girl there/Tiny Record Shop@tinyrecordshop

Tuesday

Friends of the Detroit Eatery burger and all-day breakfast spot on the Danforth have raised $17,750 of a $30,000 target Go Fund Me campaign to assist in getting the popular restaurant open after Tuesday’s fire. Detroit Eatery is owned by Chris Antaras. He and his dad Alex have created a loyal clientele for the little restaurant on the south side of Danforth opposite Chester Ave. A profile of Detroit Eatery asked if the name was a tongue-in-cheek wink at Toronto’s Leaf Nation. But no. “The name has been around for some 80 years now,” Chris revealed. “It’s named that way, in fact, because the people who opened it were from Detroit. Everyone thinks we named it that, but the fact is, it’s been this way all along, and I think it’s perfect; I love the name. It’s packed with history ― it’s one of the oldest diners on the strip.” May it live again.

The editor and publisher of Your Ward News, James Sears, 55, and LeRoy St. Germaine, 77, have been found guilty of promoting hatred against women and Jews. The much-disliked publication had previously been banned from delivery by Canada Post. YWN has continued to be delivered unsolicited to doorsteps in Midtown by paid delivery. In his finding, Judge Richard Blouin, of the Ontario Court of Justice, called evidence of guilt overwhelming. The convicted men had argued YWN was meant to be satire but Blouin found nothing funny about their views. If what they were doing didn’t amount to wilful hate promotion, the judge said, nothing would. “YWN repeatedly and consistently dehumanized Jews and women,” Blouin said in his ruling. “Both men were fully aware of the unrelenting promotion of hate.” In 2017 at the time charges The South Bayview Bulldog called YWN “a journalistically scatter-brained giveaway which many find incoherent. But it’s headlines and stories frequently flirt with ideas that people of both genders and of all backgrounds find offensive.” The Canadian Press story by Colin Perkel has ignited a long thread of comments which range predictably from the revulsion felt by many for YWN to thoughtful concern about limitations on free speech.

The somewhat disastrous decision by the City of Windsor to remove fluoride from the drinking water has yielded a generation of kids with huge cavities. Interesting. Then, it looks like a domestic homicide overnight on Mould Ave in the Stockyards area of town. Carl Hantske reports. Below that, the CBC wanders the dark halls of 260 Wellesley St. at the scene of that confused blackout and water stoppage. Crazy. Finally, Rob Bowman is Canada’s Jack Black (School of rock) it seems. Bowman is the Toronto Rock and Roll Professor and he’s in line for another Grammy

Icy Cleveland and Manor/Bulldog photo

Side streets across South Bayview are extremely icy Thursday morning. Cleveland St. (seen above) was treacherous even at mid-morning especially at intersections. For reasons unknown, the salt trucks have not yet arrived.

Anybody see a Toronto salt truck anywhere. 😱 skating rink out here.

— M. R. Crypto (@MrVari) January 24, 2019

Buses on Line One/Alex Forgay@AlexForgay

Vaguely described signal problems on Line One Thursday have slowed trains and prevented others from entering service. Many (or maybe most) people are on buses which is where Alex Forgay@AlexForgay tweeted this

Mayor Tory addresses tenants meeting

Some may think it too harsh to say there was a stunning absence of information about what’s gone wrong at 260 Wellesley St. But the public meeting Wednesday night to explain burst water piping and the loss of power heard what seemed like many empty statements. There was no advice on what had happened or how soon repairs might restore water and electricity to the 1,000 tenants. One unhelpful quote called the blacked-out high-rise “an incomplete story.” The deputy fire chief said he had “no idea” what had happened. The owner Danny Roth said that Thursday will provide “greater clarity around repairs.” The Twitter feed of Toronto spokesman Brad Ross indicates that temporary hall lighting is being strung and that tenants can stay in their darkened units with temperatures at about 20C. Brad Ross

Actually these photos of St. Clair Ave looking West from Yonge St. were taken just a whisker under 107 years apart. The top one was shot on October 25 1911 and the bottom was recorded in July of 2018. That’s Sellers Hotel at the left. OldTO

Interesting City News story on the theft of a pair of Stanley Cup Championship rings from a west Toronto home. It appears the thieves took the safe which held them.

Lost sash

Click to see

Meet Mondays at Leaside United

A lost Girl Guide sash found in the snow at Trace Manes Park belongs to a member of the 198th Toronto Guide Unit which meets at Leaside United Church across the street each Monday evening. A neighbor who found the sash is taking it to the church where it is hoped the owner will be found.